freeware

Historically, any software that you give away, particularly if you make the source code available as well. Now often called open source software. Recently there has been a trend to use the term in contradistinction to "open source software", to refer only to free software released under the Free Software Foundation's GPL (General Public License), but this is difficult to justify etymologically.

Software that is developed usually by individuals or small companies and distributed, usually via FTP, at essentially no cost to the recipient. Note: Often the developer or another party retains the copyright to the software product; therefore, freeware is not necessarily in the public domain, and its distribution may be controlled by the copyright owner.